1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic document generating apparatus, an electronic document generation method, and a computer program. More particularly, the present invention relates to an electronic document generating apparatus, an electronic document generation method, and a computer program useful for generating an imposition-completed document from an electronic document including a plurality of pages and a plurality of layers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as a method for printing after imposition is performed, there is a method in which print data (logical pages) generated by application software is imposed in order on physical pages before the user performs printing. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-130082 discusses a method that joins print jobs together by converting print data into data in intermediate codes before the user performs printing or previews the print data. The printing and the print preview is performed based on layout information of each print job in the joined print jobs.
On the other hand, electronic documents (hereinafter referred to as “documents” as needed) with layers are widely used these days. This is because a document with layers is useful in enhancing efficiency of document generation, reducing time and effort necessary in correcting the document, concealing personal data, embedding information for the printing process, and embedding copy-forgery-inhibited pattern for security.
Various attributes can be set for a layer. They are, for example, “1. display: always OFF/always ON”, “2. printing: ON when “display” is ON/always OFF/always ON”, and “3. storage: ON when “display” is ON/always OFF/always ON”.
However, although an imposition-completed document dedicated for printing can be generated according to the technique discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-130082, the layer attributes for printing are different from the layer attributes for purposes other than printing such as display and storage. Thus, the generated imposition-completed document cannot be used for display and storage.
Since one imposition-completed document cannot be used for all applications, it is necessary to generate a variety of very similar documents such as an imposition-completed document for printing, an imposition-completed document for display, and an imposition-completed document for storage. This may affect time and effort for document management, possibility of using and incorrect document due to a mix-up between correct and incorrect files, and may also adversely affect the system due to the increase in the size of files that are stored.